Petro joins thousands marching against de la Espriella
Former president Gustavo Petro joined unions, Indigenous groups, students and feminist activists opposing spending cuts and proposed reforms. New police powers added urgency to the largely peaceful demonstrations.
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Oct 15, 06:00 UTC ·
803 words
Thousands marched across Colombia on October 14 in the first major protests against President Abelardo de la Espriella since he took office in August, challenging his economic and security agenda. [1][2]
Former president Gustavo Petro joined the Bogotá demonstration, where trade unionists, Indigenous groups, students and feminist activists gathered. Opposition parties and social movements also took part in the wider mobilisation against proposed labour and pension changes, lower government spending and threats they see to public services. [1][2]
The marches, described as peaceful or largely peaceful, came a day after the government gave police greater scope to intervene at demonstrations. They put a broad opposition coalition on the streets. [1][2][3]
For some demonstrators, the immediate fear was losing protections secured under the previous administration. Teacher Ester Guerra told AFP in Bogotá: "I feel like we have no guarantees and that the little we did obtain...we're about to lose." [1][2]
The reports put turnout at thousands, without a firm nationwide count. They do not establish a government response to the marches, a complete account of arrests or injuries, or plans for further joint demonstrations. [1][2]
A coalition defending Petro's reforms
De la Espriella won the June presidential runoff by a narrow margin after campaigning on a hardline approach to crime and the economy. He pledged to reverse reforms introduced under Petro, making the fate of his predecessor's policies a central political dispute from the start of his presidency. [2]
Petro's government expanded access to public universities, raised the minimum wage and improved labour protections, according to Al Jazeera. Opposition groups say those gains are at risk under the new administration. Protesters also raised concerns about healthcare and the effect of reduced public spending. [2]
Those concerns brought groups with different interests into the same mobilisation. Unions opposed possible losses to labour protections, while students, Indigenous groups and feminist activists joined the Bogotá rally. The coalition's reach extended beyond the former president and his party allies to organised groups with their own demands. [1][2]
Petro called the mobilisation a wake-up call, two months into what he described as a "tyrannical and imposed government." That was his characterisation of the administration, delivered as he joined the opposition protest. [2]
His presence gave the rally a direct link to the government whose record many marchers want to defend. It also placed the contest between successive presidents alongside demands about wages, pensions, healthcare and public programmes. [1][2]
The marches show the range of organised groups joining the opposition. [1][2] Its ability to sustain pressure will depend on whether those groups keep acting together as individual spending and reform proposals move forward.
The next immediate decision is in Congress. Lawmakers had until the following Tuesday to approve the 2027 budget, while de la Espriella's allies were advancing proposals to reduce spending as part of his administration's austerity programme, according to Al Jazeera. [2]
That deadline gives the protests a concrete focus. A budget determines what the state can fund, bringing arguments about the size of government down to choices about programmes and services.
New powers for police
The government changed the rules governing police conduct at demonstrations on October 13. Officers gained greater leeway to act when protesters vandalise public property or disrupt access to essential services. Dialogue and mediation became optional when aggression or vandalism is taking place. [3]
De la Espriella said the right to protest remained guaranteed and that police would not obstruct peaceful marches. He also said: "Violence, vandalism and blockades that trample on the rights of millions of citizens will not be tolerated." [2][3]
The government said the changes would protect people whose work, travel or access to services is disrupted by roadblocks. Indigenous communities and political groups in rural areas sometimes use such blockades to demand policy changes and the implementation of social programmes. Some have lasted weeks. [3]
Opposition senator Jennifer Pedraza said the revised guidelines could lead to more police violence. Activists and opposition politicians criticised the rules as too broad. [3]
That dispute carries the weight of Colombia's recent history. Anti-government demonstrations in 2021 followed growing economic inequality during the COVID-19 pandemic. At least 46 people were killed, and human rights group reports blamed police for many of the deaths. [3]
The October 14 marches brought opponents onto the streets under the revised rules almost immediately. Their largely peaceful course put the government's assurance that peaceful protest would be protected alongside its newly expanded powers to intervene. [1][2][3]
Foreign policy joins the domestic dispute
Some demonstrators also objected to de la Espriella's renewed ties with Israel. On the day of the marches, his government opened a Colombian embassy in Jerusalem, reversing the break in relations under Petro. Protesters carried Palestinian flags. [2]
The embassy decision added another reversal of Petro's policies to a mobilisation already concerned with domestic spending and social protections. It gave the coalition a foreign-policy grievance alongside the economic and policing disputes that brought it together. [2]
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